Designing self-adaptative cyclized polyacrylonitrile-polyethyleneimine conjugates enhance uranium extraction from natural seawater.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 41115901.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-025-64315-z and PMC identifier 12537936.
- Licence recorded as CC BY-NC-ND.
- Because redistribution is not established, this page shows the abstract only. Follow the links below for the full text.
Abstract
Uranium extraction from seawater offers a promising route to secure sustainable nuclear fuel and mitigate environmental issues from fossil fuel consumption, yet it remains hindered by low extraction efficiency and severe biofouling. Herein, we report a self-adaptative adsorbent-cyclized polyacrylonitrile-polyethyleneimine (CPAP)-which undergoes conformation expansion in alkaline seawater to enhance uranium uptake and contracts in acidic solution to facilitate uranium desorption. CPAP exhibits a high adsorption capacity of 22.3 mg g<sup>-1</sup>, outperforming all reported fiber-based adsorbents. Its excellent photothermal effect combined with quaternary ammonium functionalities effectively suppresses biological adhesion. Mechanistic studies reveal that electrostatic repulsion and hydrogen bonding drive pH-responsive structural transitions. Furthermore, a self-designed flow-type extraction device demonstrates high uranium extraction efficiency (1.91 mg g<sup>-1</sup>d<sup>-1</sup>) and excellent cycling stability, underscoring the practical scalability of this strategy. Overall, This work introduces a self-adaptative concept materials for enhancing seawater uranium harvesting, opening the door to fundamental research on designing intelligent adsorbent.